Across the board, the majority of Americans believe that employment decisions should be based on a person’s qualifications and work ethic.

And it goes inherently against our American values to fire someone based solely upon who they are.

Nearly 90 percent of Americans believe that lesbians and gays should have equal rights in job opportunities. And that is why a majority of Americans believe the federal government should act to end workplace discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) workers.

This legislation does not prevent employers from firing lazy and incompetent employees. It simply gives all Americans a fair shake at working hard to get ahead without discrimination or bias.

Most of America’s smartest business minds understand that a person’s sexual orientation and gender identity have nothing to do with their job performance. That is why 87 percent of Fortune 500 companies include sexual orientation in their equal employment policies, and 41 percent also include gender identity.

Although more and more businesses in the United States have started addressing workplace fairness for LGBT employees, we still need a federal standard that treats all employees the same way.

Please do your part to support your fellow citizens and stand on the right side of history.

Sincerely,

Rebecca Schwartz

Bountiful

Editor,

Please end work discrimination and give hardworking families that are LGBT the safety of peace of mind for equality in the workforce: Same-sex insurance benefits for partners and families.

As taxpayers in Utah, we desire to be equal and given the same rights.

I believe in your state to be fair and not base the private lives of the taxpayer as a reason to not give equal rights.